BRAIN FUNCTIONAL CHANGES CORRELATE WITH COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTION IN FRIEDREICH'S ATAXIA: AN RS-fMRI STUDY

Sirio Cocozza, Teresa Costabile, Enrico Tedeschi, Filomena Abate, Camilla Russo, Agnese Liguori, Walter Del Vecchio, Francesca Paciello, Mario Quarantelli, Alessandro Filla, Francesco Saccà, and Arturo Brunetti; International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, (Abstract #4670) 16-21 June 2018 Paris (France)

We performed a seed-based Resting-State fMRI analysis in Friedreich’s Ataxia (FRDA) patients to assess possible brain functional connectivity (FC) changes in these patients, which are know to be charactherized by an impairment of neuropsychological functions. We found an increased FC in FRDA patients compared to controls in different brain regions, including the medial frontal gryrus, the angular gyri and cingulate gyrus, with a decreased cerebellar FC. Our findings of diffuse alterations of FC in FRDA patients compared to controls may shed new light on the pattern of supratentorial and infratentorial involvement and on dynamics of brain plasticity in this condition.

BRAIN FUNCTIONAL CHANGES CORRELATE WITH COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTION IN FRIEDREICH'S ATAXIA: AN RS-fMRI STUDY